The Legal Immigration Reform Plan That Will Bring Both Republicans and Democrats Together

12 Steps to Securing Our Borders and Legal Immigration

Why is securing our borders and legal immigration needed?

A healthy and legal immigration solution will secure our borders, create a safer North American Continent and promote a stronger relationship with our contiguous neighbors. Enforcement-only initiatives promote a situation that emulates the failed days of Prohibition, which serves only to encourage the underground labor market. Our government needs the additional tax revenues that new immigrants generate in order to sustain the burgeoning entitlement programs baby boomers require as they continue to retire. By developing a reasonable legal immigration plan, we create a system where immigrants share American tax burdens as they continue to contribute millions of dollars into our tax coffers. New immigrants sharing our tax burdens will help discourage our government from increasing taxes, because under the current system these entitlement programs will drain all federal revenues within 15 years.

Our 12 point plan addresses securing our borders, fixing the immigration system, developing a process for legal immigrants to enter, demand for labor, the D.R.E.A.M Act, sustaining international trade relationships, and employer sanctions that will assuredly be implemented by the current Congress.

How to fix a broken immigration system.

12 Steps to Securing Our Borders and Legal Immigration

Immigration Reform Efforts Currently Being Led By DeeDee Garcia Blase, Lionel Sosa and Joe Penalosa

1. BORDER SECURITY: The preservation of our national security must be the paramount objective of the immigration policy of the United States. At least 5,000 additional border patrol agents should be added on the border between the United States and Mexico and an additional 10,000 border patrol agents should be assigned to duty on the North border. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should work in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to take appropriate measures, including the addition of drug and bomb sniffing canine units that will deter drug activities.

2. PROCESSING APPLICATION FEES: The creation of a path to citizenship for undocumented persons should not increase the bureaucracy in Washington or add to the already heavy burdens on the American taxpayer. All applications for legal status by undocumented immigrants should be processed as efficiently as possible and all expenses in connection with the processing of such applications, including background checks, should be borne by the applicant in the amount of $500.00

3. OFFENSE FINE: There is no right that we Americans hold more dearly than the privilege of calling ourselves citizens of the United States. We do not advocate amnesty, therefore, undocumented individuals should be required to pay a fine as a civil penalty (not to exceed $1,500 per person of $5,000 per family) for entering in the country illegally and after a background check clearance has been carried out.

4. REGISTRATION: Upon enactment, undocumented persons must register with the DHS for background check, and wait until the border is certified as “secure” by DHS in order to trigger legalization. Persons should be given the opportunity to remain in the United States as residents with a temporary legal status

5. REGULARIZATION PROCESS: Upon certification,undocumented immigrants who satisfy the requirements for temporary legal status with moral character and no criminal record will enter into a six year program before becoming citizens of the United States. No participants in the program shall be entitled to receive any federal government assistance while they are in the program which will consist of three phases.

6. PAYING BACK TAXES: Undocumented immigrants must apply for a Social Security Number from the IRS and pay any income taxes owed. We recognize that undocumented immigrants contribute to the system by paying state and federal sales, use and excise taxes.

7. ASSIMILATION AND MANDATORY ENGLISH EDUCATION: Undocumented immigrants who are qualified to enter the Regularization Process shall be required to take courses in English and Civics as a condition to obtain a certificate of completion for citizenship. The hours of study should be twice the amount to what the Reagan Administration had proposed as part of immigration legislation championed by the President in the 1980s.

9. FUTURE FLOW LOW SKILLED GUEST WORKER PROGRAM: The adoption of a guest worker program would permit individuals registering with DHS to legally enter into the United States to work in states whose governors, or other legally authorized persons, certify that demand for labor cannot be satisfied by existing populations of legal residents will strengthen the economy. The number of workers admitted to such a program would depend on the demand levels identified by the States, and can suspend the program in the event that the national unemployment rate exceeds certain levels.

10. JOBS, ECONOMY & LABOR MARKET: Immigrants Move In, Americans Move Up. According to the CATO Institute, “Multiple causes lie behind the shrinking of the underclass in the past 15 years. The single biggest factor is probably economic growth. Despite the current recession, the U.S. economy enjoyed healthy growth during most of the period, lifting median household incomes and real compensation earned by U.S. workers, which ushered millions of families into the middle class and beyond. Welfare reform in the 1990s, and rising levels of education, may also be contributing factors. Another factor may be immigration itself. The arrival of low-skilled, foreign-born workers in the labor force increases the incentives for younger native-born Americans to stay in school and for older workers to upgrade their skills…..”

11. TARGETING CIRCUMVENTING CRIMINALS (TCC) / E-VERIFICATION: Although cooperation between state and federal law enforcement officers is essential to the protection of our borders, Section 287(g) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) has not provided a proper framework for the establishment of cooperation between state and federal law enforcement officers, this despite the fact that the costs of the administration of the 287(g) program sky-rocketed from $5 million in 2006 to $55 million in 2010. According to a report by DHS, the 287(g) enactment does not require sufficient focus on the identification and deportation of that small percentage of undocumented immigrants guilty of violent criminal offenses. The ineffectiveness of the 287(g) program has resulted in an epidemic of states seeking to usurp federal authority by taking immigration matters into their own hands and adopting misguided legislation, most notably in Arizona, that unfairly scapegoat immigrants. We need to get smart and concentrate on training and supervision that will focus on circumventing criminals that wish to do us real harm. Congress should consider replacing most of 287(g) resources with a national E-verification program that will discourage future illegal immigration only “after” Congress passes a reasonable immigration solution where the Electronic employment eligibility verification would not immerse America’s workers and business in burdensome bureaucracy and avoid eroding the freedoms of the American citizen.

12. (OPTIONAL) FREER TRADE RELATIONS FOR SAFER NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT: The United States should continue honoring trade agreements, such as NAFTA, so that we do not undermine the stability of the economies and our relationships with our neighbors.

Conclusion

Despite what opponents to legal immigration say, benefits would include secured borders, better military qualified readiness, furthered assimilation by immigrants that demonstrates their loyalty to America, shared tax burdens and increased revenues to the tax base for state, federal, and local governments, and our labor market needs will be maintained especially with the baby boomers retiring.

SOMOS (we are) INDEPENDENTS wants to bring the Nation together because there is a clear failure of the 2 major Party system that is destroying the fabric of unity that our Nation should continue to be established on.